Nachum interviewed Givati Brigade Association (GBA) Chairman Itzhak Levit in advance of the Association’s 40th anniversary celebration of the reconstitution of the Givati Brigade. Read more about it below:
The Association honors the legacy of the IDF’s storied Givati Brigade through educational programs, exhibitions at its Yoav fortress, and memorial initiatives for the brigade’s fallen heroes. One of the reasons Givati is such a special brigade is the family-like relationship between soldiers and their commanders, and the group supports the financial and social needs of active-duty soldiers so that they can focus on defending Israel, and helps set recent veterans up for their future through academic and mentoring opportunities.
In February the Association will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the reconstitution of the Givati Brigade.
Some of the interesting initiatives GBA helps current soldiers with are financial and food-product support for the families of active duty soldiers who are food-insecure. Another and possibly even more interesting, is the work GBA does for soldiers who come from more extreme Charedi backgrounds, who due to their choice to serve in the IDF become estranged from their families. While not meeting the definitions of “lone soldiers” these defenders of Israel are left without their childhood homes and families. GBA helps them to find suitable housing, adoptive family-like relationships and find their way in a society many grew up on the outside of.
